


Endings/Beginnings

by browney3dgirl6



Series: Summer Days [3]
Category: Animal Kingdom (TV)
Genre: Fluff, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Light Angst, M/M, Pre-Canon, Pre-Relationship, Summer, carnival shenanigans, end of summer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-07
Updated: 2020-10-07
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:22:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26882125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/browney3dgirl6/pseuds/browney3dgirl6
Summary: Summer is coming to an end and they want to make the most of their last days together.
Relationships: Deran Cody & Adrian Dolan, Deran Cody/Adrian Dolan
Series: Summer Days [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1913464
Comments: 2
Kudos: 8
Collections: Animal Kingdom ▶ Deran Cody / Adrian Dolan





	Endings/Beginnings

**Author's Note:**

> Here's the last part for this series! This was another one I contemplated not finishing, but I had this small idea and the rest of it just came as I wrote. I planned on this being a short and sweet ending but as always my pen got away from me, I think this is my longest fic yet..oops! 
> 
> Enjoy (:

**-Adrian-**

Summer was coming to an end and the reality of going back to school had set in. School meant less time for surfing and not seeing Deran daily, as he wasn’t prone to showing face there often.

Adrian had fallen asleep with his window open and one leg sticking out from the sheet; nothing like summer nights. He woke to the vibrations of his phone buzzing under his sweaty arm. Rolling slightly to grab it with the other arm, he checked the caller ID. He saw a surfer emoji and that was all he needed-Deran.

Deran only called in the middle of the night if he couldn’t sleep or if something was wrong, or worse-both.

He answered cautiously, already panicked something was wrong. His voice was groggy with sleep but he hoped he sounded sincere. “Der, what’s up?” The phone line was silent as Adrian waited for him to answer. Moving himself to a sitting position he tried again, “Hey, what’s wrong?” More silence. He was about to tell him how much he was freaking him out when he finally heard Deran clear his throat.

“Julia’s back.”

_Shit._ Deran’s older sister coming home always ended in a cluster fuck of sorts. Smurf thought she was trash and treated her accordingly, while Baz and Pope fought for her attention in ways brothers shouldn’t, whether they were adopted or not. He didn’t suppose Craig felt one way or another about her, but Deran and Julia had always been close. Adrian can remember Julia was always the one he went to for comfort; Smurf put an end to that quickly.

Deran didn’t talk about her much, none of the family did. If she wasn’t around, they acted as though she never existed to begin with. Even so, Adrian understood what she meant to Deran.

“Jeeze, are you ok?” He paused a moment before adding, “How is she?”

He heard Deran’s sigh radiate through the speaker of the phone and could picture him sliding down his bed further.

“I dunno. . . it’s just. . .weird.”

Adrian gave a short ‘mm’ sound, not really knowing what to say; Deran probably just needed someone to listen anyway.

“She’s. . .different, I guess. Not like sober, just-different.”

Adrian responded softly, “I know she’s important to you D, but it’s ok if you’re unsure about her, I mean it _has_ been almost six months now.”

It was the longest time she’d been away for and Adrian couldn’t begin to imagine where she’d been all this time or why she’d willingly come back to Smurf.

Deran hadn’t said anything for a while again. Adrian wished he could crawl through the phone and cradle Deran close to him while taking some of his worries away. “Want me to come over?” He didn’t usually blatantly ask that, but it felt right in the moment. He figured Deran would blurt out a ‘No’ and proceed to hang up on him, but he did quite the opposite. “Yea. . . but you can’t, too many people.” Before Adrian could interject, he continued, “Maybe, can you just. . . can we talk until I fall asleep?” Adrian smiled through the phone, “Yea sure.”

Adrian could hear a ‘snap’ sound as Deran fiddled with his new habit-the bracelet clasp. He smiled even more and started recalling a surf comp he had last spring; it was Deran who wanted to listen now.

~

Adrian had dosed off sometime after he heard Deran’s breathing pick up. He hadn’t wanted to end the call, so he left it to hang itself up pretending they were right next to each other.

It was mid-morning by the time he woke and he scrambled to get ready for work. He’d picked up a job a few weeks back at Tao’s Surf Shop where he cleaned and fixed boards. It was something he enjoyed and it also gave him a little spending money for the summer nights.

They day moved fast and the onslaught of customers kept him busy. As his work day was ending, he checked his phone-nothing from Deran. They had spent almost every night together since their fireworks on the beach and Adrian wasn’t looking to break that anytime soon.

He clocked out and headed home, deciding he needed a shower before he made tonight’s plans with Deran. As he was rinsing off his body, he heard his phone ringing from where he’d set it on the counter. Pushing the curtain back, he reached out a wet hand and answered immediately upon seeing the name displayed. “Hey Der, what’s-” He was cut off almost instantly as Deran frantically said, “Julia’s missing!”

Adrian leaned back to shut the water off and grabbed his towel from the shelf. He was confused since that was what Julia always did, but why did Deran sound so panicked? He didn’t have time to question before Deran started in again; “We’re going to look for her. Will you come. . . please?” Deran sounded desperate; Adrian hated that voice-unless he was trying to get him off that was. _Focus Adrian_. “Of course. Where should I meet you?” Deran quickly replied, “I’ll pick you up in ten,” and hung up.

Adrian hastily toweled himself off, throwing on a pair of dark jeans and a black tank, paired with his favorite flannel. He barely had time to brush his teeth and pull a comb through his damp hair when he heard Deran’s Scout pull up. He gave up with the comb and slicked his hair back using his fingers before he darted out the door and down the steps.

Deran’s outfit nearly mimicked his except he’d opted for a white tank and had his jean bottoms rolled just slightly; Adrian had never asked why he did that, he just thought it was adorable. Adrian offered his half smile as he got in; Deran just smirked at him.

Adrian could see his blues were dull, lacking their usual vibrancy, and he had thick black circles under his eyes-guess he didn’t get that much sleep after all.

As Deran pulled away from the curb, Adrian began his questioning. “What happened Der? Is Julia ok?” Keeping his eyes on the road, Deran simply responded, “I dunno, she just took off. We thought she finally fell asleep but when we woke up, she was just-gone.” Adrian didn’t want to upset him further but couldn’t think of a better way to ask, “I mean isn’t this what she usually does?” Deran glared at him momentarily but didn’t respond angrily. “Yea, but it’s different this time.” Adrian raised his eyebrows towards him slightly; the only thing he could think was she’d tried a different drug or something of the sort.

Deran breathed out heavily, gripping the steering wheel tighter, “She’s, uh, she’s pregnant.” Now Adrian really didn’t know how to respond, other than swallowing whatever saliva he had rolling around his mouth. If he didn’t say something Deran would never settle, so neither would he.

“Shit. Um ok. We’ll find her Der.” He risked grabbing Deran’s thigh and squeezing, it seemed to do the trick as he saw him visibly relax. Deran squeezed his hand where it rested on his thigh, and intertwined their fingers until they approached the strand.

**-Deran-**

As soon as he pulled into the lot, he released his fingers from Adrian’s who took the hint and quickly removed his hand where it lay on his thigh. Deran felt a cold spot once it was gone, already missing the comforting contact.

Pushing that away for now, he hopped out of the Scout and met his brothers who were just arriving; Adrian joined him at his side. None of his brothers questioned Adrian’s being there, Pope just gave him a _look_ , which honestly could’ve been nothing-he always had that Pope stare going on.

Pope spoke first, listing off the places they’d already checked, like her usual hangouts or any places she’d went to score in the past. They’d turned up empty, Julia nowhere to be seen. Baz spoke next, “Alright, lets split up and check both end of the strands, then we’ll meet back in the middle, ok?” The Cody brothers and Adrian nodded in response. Baz continued, “Pope and I will head toward the beach, you three go down towards the pier.” Deran wanted to be alone with Adrian, but it looked like he was getting stuck babysitting Craig- _great_.

The older boys took off in their assigned direction while the other three headed in the opposite. As if on cue, Craig starts into a game of 20 questions. “I don’t see why she would run away; I mean not with everything going on.” Deran thought just the opposite-why _would_ she stay with everything going on. Craig continued to rattle off his every thought. “Do you really think she’s pregnant? Who’s the baby daddy? Am I gonna be an uncle?” Deran was mere seconds away from exploding on him when Adrian reached out and squeezed his fingers, relieving some of the pressure as he told Craig, “Hey man, why don’t you check down over there and we’ll go up this way.” Deran breathed a sigh of relief, Adrian always knew what he needed. Craig simply shrugged his shoulders, “Yea sure, I’ll let you guys know what I find.” And then he was off, much to Deran’s pleasure.

~

The two boys walked for a beat before Dean mumbled out a, “Thanks man.” Adrian smiled at him briefly and they trudged forward. They spent over an hour searching every inch of land they could find, but they still came up empty.

It was starting to get dark and Deran was exhausted; he’d spent most of the night trying to calm Julia. He’d finally gotten a little rest after letting Adrian’s soothing voice lull him to sleep, but it hadn’t lasted long until his siblings woke him up again. He was pissed. One, that they had woken him up _again_ and two, because Adrian never hung up and he could hear his melodic sleep sounds through the phone still. He had to leave Adrian’s voice behind though so he could help his brothers talk Julia off the ledge, again.

Julia was terrified to have a baby, and even more so at the thought of Smurf finding out. She was just about six months pregnant but she was getting to the stage where it would become more difficult to hide it. She only came back because she wanted her family and she thought maybe Smurf would take her back this time, but Smurf still wanted nothing to do with her, she didn’t even want her around Deran and his brothers.

They spent hours talking her down, telling her they would all figure it out-together. She had finally fallen asleep, making them think they were in the clear, but when they woke in the morning she had fled yet again.

“Maybe we should try over there?” Adrian said suddenly, startling Deran out of his thoughts. Deran glanced to where Adrian was pointing and saw the end of the summer carnival. His phone rang suddenly, keeping him from answering Adrian. It was Pope. They hadn’t had any luck either and were ready to meet up and regroup for the next places on the list.

Deran suddenly felt tired all at once, but he didn’t want to give up on his sister; she already had so much against her. He went with his best compromise telling his bothers, “There’s a carnival over off the pier, could try there.” Silence on the other end while his brothers contemplated. Pope finally replied, “I mean, she was always really in to those as a kid.” Perfect, that meant less driving and walking for Deran but still not giving up the search. “Cool, meet you there in ten.” He shot a quick text off to Craig explaining the same, and then he and Adrian headed for the Carnival.

~

It was loud at the carnival and bright lights radiated everywhere. There was a crowd of people every which way, and all you could smell were the fried creations and cotton candy. It was wonderful yet overwhelming all at the same time. Deran couldn’t remember the last time he’d been to one of these, but he was happy it was Adrian he was with. He looked over and saw the glimmer in Adrian’s eyes, he wanted to get lost in them and all the surrounding sounds, drowning everything else out.

“Hey.” His three brothers approached from behind all of a sudden, ruining his fantasy. Craig sniffed at the air, “Bro I’m _so_ fuckin’ hungry I can’t even think.”

“You can’t think normally,” Deran retorted snarkily. Craig reached out and slugged him slightly on the shoulder, “Fuck you!” Big brother Baz took over, “Guys, guys come on, that’s not what we’re here for.” They realigned their attention and waited for Baz to go on, always needing someone in charge. “Shit, I don’t know. Let’s just split up and see what we can find.”

Deran rubbed a hand up his face, dragging it down through his greasy hair; he could practically hear Craig’s stomach grumble next to him. None of them wanted to give up, but they all had other needs they wanted to attend to. The brothers along with Adrian were moments from heading off through the carnival when Pope stopped them all dead in their tracks.

“There! There she is!”

Pope took off towards her while the others stayed put, not wanting to bombard her all at once. After what seemed like hours to the tired group of guys, Pope finally convinced Julia to join them. She smiled at them warily before telling them how sorry she was for taking off like that. Craig being Craig, stated that he was ‘fucking starved’, and beelined to one of the food stands. Deran had had enough himself announcing, “Yea I think me and A are gonna take off too.”

He started to turn, but Julia grabbed him by the arm, “Can we talk for a minute?” His eldest brothers had stepped away and were deep in their own conversation. “Sure, but Adrian stays.” She smiled brightly at both of them, “Of course.”

Deran had never specifically told her anything, but he figured she knew being that she got that stupid twinkle eyed look every time she saw them together.

“Look baby brother, I’m sorry for leaving like that, I’m sorry for ever leaving you at all.” She paused and brought a hand up to cup his face. He flinched at the contact, not liking anyone other than Adrian’s touch there. She smiled at him softly, “Everything will be ok. I know I have you guys and that’s all that’s ever mattered to me. Just think, you get to be an uncle soon!” Deran laughed nervously, not sure what that even meant given the current situation. “The big brothers are going to take me home, so you two go have some fun and I’ll see you later.” She kissed each of them on the cheek and went to join Pope and Baz.

~

Deran looked at Adrian who had been quiet for longer than Deran was comfortable with. He scratched at his chin while meeting Adrian’s blues, “Hey I’m sorry man, didn’t mean for this to take so fuckin’ long.” Adrian smiled at him sweetly, “It’s ok D, I don’t mind, really.” And that’s why Deran asked him along, Adrian knew how to center him just by being there.

“You wanna head out? I know you’re beat man.” Deran wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed and dive under his blankets forever, but he wasn’t ready to end his night with Adrian yet. No need to waste this excellent opportunity.

“Nah, I was thinking we could hang here for a bit-haven’t been to one of these in ages.” Adrian nodded in agreement, “Yea me either, I’m down.”

They made their way to a food stand in order to recharge before thy hit the rides. Adrian offered him a strip of minty gum after and Deran took it smiling mischievously at him, Adrian rolled his eyes playfully in return. They found the ticket booth and bought two wristbands, giving them unlimited access to rides. Deran was struggling to stick his on so Adrian took over, fastening it into place right over the date bracelet. Deran thanked him softly and they made their way to the ride lines.

They did as many rides as the could: rollercoaster, freefall, tilt-a-whirl, swings, and their favorite-bumper cars; who didn’t like a little competition?

When they had worn out most of those, the boys found themselves standing beneath the Ferris wheel. Deran had a thrill for heights, plus he had this _uber_ cheesy vision of him and Adrian getting stopped at the top. Adrian grabbed his arm abruptly, snapping him out of his daydream. “Come on, I have a better idea!” Adrian took off and Deran ran to catch up, just missing him before he flew inside the attraction-house of mirrors.

There was no one else around except for the operator who was half asleep. Deran thought about messing with him but decided against it when he heard Adrian hollering his name from somewhere inside. Deran made his way in and suddenly there were several of him staring back. He laughed, “Where are you asshole?” Deran heard Adrian’s playful, “Come find me!” from somewhere beyond.

He began making his way through the mirrors, cursing every time he bumped into one. He ran into one a little too hard with his fist and heard the glass crack, _shit_. Moving forward, he finally laid eyes on Adrian who was smirking in five different directions. Deran smiled and shook his head, “Ok fucker, which one is you?” The Adrian’s shrugged together in mockery. He flew one way, then another, still coming up with only his reflection. “Dammit!”

He backed up trying to reconfigure himself when he bumped into strong arms that wrapped all around him, with a throaty voice whispering in his ear, “Got you Cody.” Deran swung around, pinning Adrian between the mirrors. He could see ten different versions of Adrian but this was the only one he wanted, needed.

Their lips met playfully and they darted their tongues out sliding into each other’s mouths with ease. Adrian twisted his fingers into Deran’s golden locks and pulled firmly. Deran let a low groan escape as he pushed further into him. Before hormones could carry them away completely, a sudden holler of, “Carnival’s closing, time to go kids!” broke them away from each other quickly.

They were panting and laughing as they made their way through the rest of the maze, exiting at last. They boys stopped for a moment to catch their breath, beaming at each other still.

Deran felt more alive than he had in what seemed like weeks, and it was all due to Adrian-he made every day feel like an adventure.

**-Adrian-**

Adrian couldn’t remember the last time life had been _this_ thrilling, especially with Deran. It was another memory of them he’d tuck closely away.

With the carnival closing they decided it was time to get out of there and head home. The Scout was waiting for them where they left it hours ago, and they hopped in easily. The wind whipped through their hair making Deran’s look more graceful than it already did. The radio was blasting as they both sat and enjoyed the night drive.

Deran pulled up to Adrian’s drive and he felt a pang of sadness at having to leave him. He turned to thank Deran and tell him goodnight, when he heard the engine cut off. Adrian raised his eyebrows in question. Deran looked at him, his blues radiating. “Um, do you think. . . maybe, could I stay?” Adrian tried to keeps his eyes from rolling out of his head and scrambled to pick his jaw up off the floor before he managed a small, “Sure. I mean yea. Yes!” Deran shook his head and laughed, “Ok weirdo.” Deran was definitely being the weird one here but, he wasn’t arguing.

They made their way into the house, careful not to wake Jess who was in charge while his parents were out of town. The boys managed to make it to Adrian’s room unscathed, and he shut it quietly behind them. No sooner than the door was closed, Deran was tackling him to the bed, pushing him down and sitting atop him.

“Der, we _have_ to be quiet,” he hissed. “If we wake up my sister-” Deran silenced him with a deep kiss, “Then don’t be loud Dolan,” he countered slyly. Adrian leaned up to kiss him again, arching his body to press into him. Deran groaned at the contact and they got lost in each other. They rolled around fighting for dominance, Deran staking his claim as usual. They got each other off slow but heatedly, both grasping for air for several minutes after.

Adrian chanced reaching out and pulling Deran close until they were snuggled together. Deran didn’t fight him, in fact, he leaned into it, relaxing into Adrian making himself the little spoon. Adrian wrapped his arms around him tightly like he’d never let go; he didn’t get this version of Deran often and he was in no hurry to see him go.

“This has been a pretty great summer D.” He felt Deran nod beneath him and laced their fingers together, “Yea, its’s been pretty cool.”

As he rubbed his fingers against Deran’s he felt something crusty and flaking off. “Der what the hell?” Dean started chuckling, “It’s just blood bro.” Adrian wrinkled his nose, he couldn’t imagine what Deran had gotten himself into- they’d been together all night. “Jesus from what?” Deran gave him that smile only a Cody could, “My fist ran into one of those fuckin’ mirrors trying to find you,” he finished stabbing a finger at Adrian’s chest. Adrian could only shake his head and laugh, “Never a dull moment with you Cody.” Deran simply winked at him and pushed himself closer, Adrian tightened his grip.

When Adrian thought back on his summer, his best memories were the ones he and Deran made; He hoped it would always be that way.

Deran shifted slightly so they were facing each other, blue to blue. He spoke in his tired raspy voice that Adrian loved. “We had some good days me and you.” Adrian smiled at him gently, taking a hand to brush his long locks from his face. Deran returned the smile and leaned in to kiss him softly. Adrian rubbed his thumb over Deran’s wrist where the bracelet lay. He didn’t know what Deran had told his brothers, but Adrian never noticed the bracelet out of place again.

Deran’s blues were closed and his breathing was picking up. Adrian shifted down to nuzzle closer into his arms, and fell asleep to the rhythm of his breathing.

The summer flame was fizzling to an end, but their story was just beginning.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading this series! I love the idea of them spending a summer together before their lives get too crazy and complicated. This one was fun to write (:
> 
> I'm not positive on all of the characters ages, but I did some math with the real actors ages and how old J is when he comes to live with them, so I think this storyline works for Julia being pregnant...If not, just pretend it does (;
> 
> Find me on tumblr:browney3dgirl6


End file.
